Wrestling: Fox Lane edges Mahopac, captures fifth straight Section 1 Dual Meet title
BEDFORD - In case anyone forgot, Fox Lane was there to gladly remind everyone who the top dog is when it comes to the Section 1 Division I Dual Meet Tournament.
A couple of undesired dual meet results and losses, as well as an early-season Journal News/lohud article detailing the 12 teams that can threaten the Foxes' throne, provided more than enough motivation in the Fox Lane locker room. In the end, though, the only fuel it needed was each other.
"It's really amazing, just reminding everybody who the top dogs are," Fox Lane senior Justin Gierum said. "We've been out here doing the best we can do and just to come out here with that plaque again, you can see everybody's smiles. It's just a great moment.
"There's no secret sauce, it's just our coach (Anthony Rodrigues). We have the best coach in the section, he gets us all fired up, and we got two great assistant coaches in Johnny Santos and Jason Parker."
Unlike past runs to the Section 1 Division I Dual Meet Tournament title, every round was close and every point and individual bout ended up mattering. Tuesday's finale was no different. After edging top-seeded North Rockland in the semifinals by three points, the Foxes followed up with a 39-35 win over Mahopac in the finals to claim their fifth straight title and squash any worries about a "down year."
"It's not easy to do," Rodrigues said. "Every meet was close. There was no room for error. Sometimes it comes down to one match and I said, 'Who's going to be the hero?' It just doesn't get old."
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Every meet that the Foxes' won during their tournament run was decided by six or fewer points. Each round had their own share of heroes, whether it was a timely pin or avoiding getting pinned to minimize the opponent's team scoring.
In the finals, the Foxes got a couple. A pin by Barron Ransom, the Foxes' first of the night, helped decide a closely-contested bout and sparked Fox Lane, who was trailing in team scoring at that point.
"My coach told me don't rush anything, just sit there, take your time and be a deadly force," Ransom said. "I overrun a lot of things, so I just listen to what he said and it worked out."
It remained a close meet, until Fox Lane 126-pounder Wilmer Navarro scored a first-period pin to clinch the title.
"It means everything, we had a shaky beginning, but we realized we had to turn it up because we wanted to win," Navarro said. "We want to keep the streak going, so it means the world."
With plenty of past wrestlers and recently-graduated Fox Lane grapplers in attendance, the Foxes' alumni got to see that the torch they passed along continues to burn brightly. The streak dates back to well before any of the current wrestlers were on varsity.
If it weren't for COVID-19, Fox Lane had a solid case to make it six straight if it had a chance to compete during the canceled 2020 season.
As for Mahopac, it plans on building off of its run to the finals. There's still plenty of season left and lots of promising signs.
"The process is more important than the product," Mahopac coach Steven Tornambe said. "For us, this is all part of the process. In wrestling, losing is part of the process. I also tell them that our windshield is a lot bigger than our rear view mirror."
Momentous matches
102 pounds: At 33 seconds, Mahopac's Charles Przymylski recorded the fastest pin of the finals.
126 pounds: Fox Lane's Wilmer Navarro had the title-sealing pin against Mahopac's Pace Zeiler. It ended up being the final bout of the day. With the Foxes building a mathematically insurmountable lead, they forfeited the final two matches to get the celebrations underway.
152 pounds: Following up on teammate Nick Greco's pin, Mahopac's Chris Morris logged a quick 36-second pin in the second bout of the day, which gave the Indians an early 12-0 lead.
160 pounds: It was the only match that went the distance. Mahopac's Lucas Kilker scored a third-period escape in a low-scoring battle, but Fox Lane's Francesco Ruggiero got a late takedown to secure a 6-1 win.
172 pounds: Fox Lane's Ransom was trailing, 4-3, in a closely-contested match with Mahopac's Justin Mucciolo, before stuffing a takedown and turning it into a pin that brought the home crowd to its feet. It was the Foxes' first pin of the meet.
215 pounds: At 55 seconds, Tyler Stermasi recorded Fox Lane's fastest pin of the finals.
Wrestler of the meet
Barron Ransom, Fox Lane: The sophomore provided a much-needed spark for the Foxes after getting a pin at 172 pounds.
Results
145: Nick Greco (PAC) over Marvin Alarcon (FL) (Fall 2:10) 152: Chris Morris (PAC) over Joe Duarte (FL) (Fall 0:36) 160: Francesco Ruggiero (FL) over Lucas Kilker (PAC) (6-1) 172: Barron Ransom (FL) over Justin Mucciolo (PAC)(Fall 3:29) 189: Alex Berisha (FL) won by forfeit 215: Tyler Stermasi (FL) over Ledion Gjevukaj (PAC) (Fall 0:55) 285: Nate Brauning (FL) won by forfeit 102: Charles Przymylski (PAC) over Antonio Camberari (FL) (Fall 0:33) 110: Henry Ramirez (PAC) over Brandon Lee (FL) (TF 17-2) 118: Jake Long (FL) won by forfeit 126: Wilmer Navarro (FL) over Pace Zeiler (PAC) (Fall 1:42) 132: Joe Ramirez (PAC) won by forfeit 138: Michael Cuozzo (PAC) won by forfeit
They said it
"January is a long month of wrestling, it's not over, we can still accomplish the goals we want as a team," Tornambe said. "This is something that we wanted, something we worked for, but I think the kids are happy getting here. We wrestled Fox Lane earlier in the year and we beat them, so we thought we had a good shot. Some matches didn't go our way though, but you have ot keep wrestling. Everything's a learning experience for us and we always take the pros of it."
"Last year, I feel like after we won sectionals, we went downhill and we felt like we won everything and accomplished everything," Gierum said of how the Foxes will build off of their win. "It feels great, but you didn't really accomplish anything. You got a plaque and you won the section, but we still gotta keep training hard and bust our butts. When it comes down to it, this was great, but we have all the individual stuff coming up, so it's back to work."
Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5 and on Instagram at @byeugenerapay.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Wrestling: Fox Lane edges Mahopac for fifth straight Section 1 title
